


The Other Ladybug

by Writers_Muse



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Hot Mess Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Identity Reveal, Idiots in Love, Ladybug Reveal, Mild Season 3 Spoilers (If You Squint), Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir and Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Oblivious Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Reveal, Sort Of, Tags May Change, These Idiots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 11:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20777819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writers_Muse/pseuds/Writers_Muse
Summary: Adrien thinks he finds incontrovertible proof of who Ladybug is.Despite himself, he can’t help feeling a bit disappointed.  And he can’t figure out why he keeps wishing it had been Marinette.





	The Other Ladybug

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of an experimental fic. I have general ideas of where it's going, and I don't plan on making it too long (maybe 6-7 chapters? who knows- it will probably take on a life of it's own like everything else I write).
> 
> Disclaimer: this is not a Lila fic, despite a brief mention of her in the beginning. There are far too many of those already out there, and that's all I have to say about that.

Adrien Agreste was a lot of things.

He was a bit slow sometimes, socially speaking. He was almost obnoxiously oblivious, or so Nino had told him on occasion, though he would never say why. He was a bit of a pushover in some people’s eyes, but he knew it wasn’t true. He just knew when to pick his battles, and when to more subtly make people do what he wanted, without it being traced back to him.

Case in point: Lila Rossi. That witch was an unstable, unpredictable pathological liar. When he told Marinette not to do anything about her lying, he didn’t mean _ ever _. If anything, he just wanted to be able to say that he gave the girl every possible opportunity to undo her own wrongs. And, of course, he knew that to take down someone like Rossi, you had to mingle a little in the shadows, maneuver them until they found themselves backed into a corner without realizing how they got there.

Bribing Lila to leave Marinette alone? Making a deal with the devil? Adrien laughed at Plagg’s accusation, making the kwami glare at his chosen a little harder. He wasn’t teaming up or pacifying anyone. It wasn’t a bribe- it was a threat, and Lila knew it. Adrien could have her on the outs with everyone in the blink of an eye, and he could do it in any number of ways, kind of like how she tried to do to Marinette. Adrien was a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them.

He was, however, a bit quick to make assumptions. Like the time Marinette kissed his cheek after the picnic they held in her honor, he assumed it was her being grateful (one of those times when Nino really wanted to roll his eyes at his friend’s obliviousness). Or when the sentimonster claimed to be the real Ladybug, and declared her love for him. He assumed that was true, too, even if it was just wishful thinking.

But his greatest fault in hasty assumptions came on a fine Spring afternoon.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

No matter how many times he experienced it, Chat Noir never got tired of the way it felt when the miraculous cure was activated. Even when he had no injuries, he could still feel the millions of tiny magical ladybugs swarm over his body, and it left him feeling stronger, more energetic, somehow invincible.

“It’s always nice to see you, Monsieur Ramier, but I hope next time it’s under different circumstances.”

Ladybug knelt down on her haunches and held out the man’s hat toward him.

“Thank you, Ladybug,” he replied, accepting it with a sheepish smile. “It will be, you’ll see!”

The scarlet hero gave him a comforting smile, though in the back of her mind, she could recall him saying those exact words to them more times than she could count. He was, after all, with his emotional nature and excessive attachment to his pigeons, their most frequent akuma.

“I’m glad to hear it,” was all she said.

Then she rose to a standing position and watched as Chat Noir grabbed the Monsieur Ramier’s hand, pulling him up. The middle-aged man dusted of his pants, straightened his hat, which he tipped at the two heroes, and waved goodbye with a pleasant smile.

Ladybug turned to her partner.

“All right, kitty. Gotta go. Bug out!”

Casting out her yo-yo, she swung up toward a nearby rooftop and descended down the other side of the building. Chat frowned, confused as to why she would do that, then found himself sprinting toward the alley out of concern that something was wrong.

When he reached the mouth of the alley way, though, he was confronted with a pink flash. Immediately, he spun back toward the way he came, choosing to duck around the corner of the building and out of sight of the alley. The cat-themed hero stood there, panting, for several seconds until he figured the coast was clear.

But when he emerged from his hiding place, something arresting caught his eye.

There, on the opposite side of the alley way, was his school, and walking toward the school’s front doors was a girl, roughly his own age, similar in body shape and size to Ladybug, with black hair tied in pigtails. She reached for the handles, then stopped and looked around before going in.

Chat felt stuck in place, jaw hanging open, pulse throbbing in his chest and in his ears.

_ What. The. _

From this distance, she almost looked like…

“_Marinette?"_

* * *

No, not Marinette, Adrien realized later. After he pole vaulted back into the school’s courtyard and detransformed in a vacant locker room, he headed back to class.

Typically, he liked to cycle through excuses for lateness or extended trips outside the classroom. Most of the time, modelling was a good enough excuse, but he tried not to overuse it, lest the school ever try to cross-reference with his father about his actual working schedule.

He was just settling on an excuse he rarely used--an upset stomach, for obvious reasons--when he bumped into someone in the hall. Startled, he looked up, only to lock eyes with the same girl he saw entering the building just a few minutes prior.

She was the right height, the right build, and she had the right hair.

But her eyes were brown.

“You’re not Marinette,” Adrien blurted thoughtlessly, only to belatedly hear himself and slap a hand up to cover his mouth.

“_What?_” The girl looked back at him with wide eyes, cheeks flushing red, utter confusion and surprise written all over her face.

“I’m sorry!” he burst out equally as suddenly. Two hands reached out awkwardly to grasp her upper arms in his enthusiasm, but at the last second, he seemed to recognize the gesture as the overreaction it was. He stopped and ended up standing there, mortified blush covering his entire upper body, arms extended out into the open air, fingers curled and paralyzed with indecision. “That was a really weird thing to say! Of _ course _ you’re not Marinette! Because you’re you! I’m sorry! I don’t know what I’m saying right now, so please stop me at any time!”

The girl in front of him giggled a little, blush intensifying as her gaze dropped to the ground.

“It’s ok,” she told him in a soft voice, then crouched down to pick up the books that had fallen on the floor when they collided.

Adrien, just realizing he had knocked this girl’s books out of her hands, dropped to the floor instantly.

“Ah, I’m really sorry,” he continued as they picked up the mess together. “I’m not usually this clumsy.” Then he remembered all the times _ Marinette _ was clumsy and couldn’t help the little smile that started growing on his face.

“It’s ok,” the girl said again, interrupting his thoughts. He handed the last book to her as she smiled back at him and held out a hand. “I’m Juliette.”

Adrien stared at her hand for a brief second before looking back up at her eyes.

_ Brown_, a disappointed voice inside him whispered, _ why are they brown? _

He swallowed, then accepted her gesture.

“I’m Adrien,” he reciprocated, shaking her hand in his own.

Her smile grew a little wider.

“I know.”

Then she was standing, but Adrien couldn’t remember how to use his legs because _ Oh my God, is she my lady, and is my lady flirting with me? _

Another giggle sounded from somewhere up above his head.

“I should… get back to class.”

Adrien, finally back in full control of his extremities, shot up like a bolt of lightning and nodded stupidly.

“Ok, yea. Yea, me too.”

Juliette turned halfway in the opposite direction, upper body twisting to face him.

“I’ll… see you around?” she asked with a flirty lilt.

The blond blinked, stunned and more than a little confused.

His lady was never so… _ overt_, was she?

And those eyes…

Remembering she was waiting for a response, he cleared his throat, gave her his best model smile, and said, “Of course! It was nice meeting you, Juliette.”

With a playful wave of her fingers, Juliette turned the rest of the way and sauntered down the hall.

He couldn’t help watching her go, and not for reasons that would have been true if he had been looking at his lady suited up.

He was studying her, the movement of her body as she strode forward, the bounce of her hair, and even the way she held her head as she went.

She wasn’t… _ not _ like Ladybug. And her profile was almost identical.

Adrien sighed, lifting a hand absent-mindedly to rub the back of his neck.

Aside from the initial thrill of being flirted with by someone he was pretty sure was his Ladybug, he got no pleasure out of their interaction. Now, watching her go, there was no race of his heart, no rush of his pulse in his ears.

Shaking her hand felt just like every other person he ever met.

So why was it… when he saw her for that brief moment outside and thought she was Marinette… why was he so happy?

* * *

That night Chat Noir was sitting on a vacant rooftop, staring out at the Parisian night and trying to think about something other than the girl who had been haunting his every thought for the better half of the day. Try as he might, he couldn’t stop thinking about bluebell eyes and secret identities.

And, rather exasperatingly, it wasn’t the same girl who was usually on his mind.

The conversation he had with Plagg earlier that evening didn’t help, either.

_ “Plagg, what does this mean?” _

_ “What do you want from me, kid? I’m a kwami, not an oracle.” _

_ “Ugh!” Adrien groan in frustration, clenching his hands into fists. “How can this _ be _ ? I mean, it has to be her, right? Alya found that history book once, so I know Ladybug goes to our school, and she detransformed a literal block away. It’s gotta be that girl, right? It’s Juliette.” _

_ Plagg munched indifferently on his cheese and shrugged, nonchalant. _

_ “I don’t know. You seem pretty convinced on your own, so don’t let me stop you.” _

_ A desperate hand came out to grab at the tiny magical cat, forcing him to drop his cheese. _

_ “Come on, Plagg! You already know who she is!” _

_ Plagg stared with a deadpan expression at his chosen. _

_ “I already told you, kid. I can’t tell you who Ladybug is, and that includes giving you a yes or no on your hairbrain theories. Got it?” _

_ “You said hairbrained! That means I’m wrong, right? Or… maybe you just said that to confuse me.” Adrien unintentionally squeezed a little tighter in frustration. “Agh! Why does this have to be so hard?” _

_ Plagg rolled his eyes but said nothing about the digits constricting his middle. Instead, he simply phased out of the upset boy’s fingers and crossed his arms. Adrien’s mouth opened and closed indecisively before saying: _

_ “Just… tell me this.” A pause. “Can the miraculous change eye color, stuff like that?” _

_ The floating sprite watched him with a measured look for a minute. Then, finally, he responded. _

_ “Think of it this way: Ladybug once used your miraculous. What color were her eyes?” _

_ “Green.” _

_ “And what color are her eyes when she’s using her own miraculous?” _

_ “Blue.” _

_ Plagg gesticulated with his nubby limbs as though to say “there you have it,” before diving down to rescue his abandoned snack. _

_ “So… what you’re saying is, it can? Does that mean that either green or blue is her natural color?” Adrien’s eyes widened with overthinking and increased possibilities. “Does that mean her eye color depends on her miraculous?” _

_ “Ugh! I’m done!” _

_ “But my eyes didn’t change when I used her earrings! Plagg, please, give me a clear answer!” _

_ Two bright green eyes drowning in black hovered in front of his vision as the kwami flew up to his level. _

_ “If you stop thinking about it so much, then it will all work itself out.” _

_ “It will?” Adrien asked, hopeful again. _

_ “Yes. Because _ I _ won’t have to hear about it anymore.” _

It wasn’t long after that Adrien had enough of his uncaring kwami and transformed, then leapt out through his window.

But sitting there with his legs hanging over the side of the building was doing nothing for the tempest in his head.

He wasn’t supposed to know, he wasn’t supposed to ask, he wasn’t even supposed to _ think _ about it, but if he was being honest, when had that ever stopped him?

Chat released a deep, heavy breath and let his head loll backward, gaze directed up at the starless sky.

“Ahhh,” he sighed, “damnit.”

“Well, it’s always good to see you, too, Chaton.”

The seated hero whipped around quick enough to give himself whiplash. His eyes met with the sight of his lady, and for a second, he couldn’t tell whether his heart had stopped beating, or if the world was standing still.

“D-uh,” he responded rather inarticulately. “L- Ladybug.”

Her bright, wide smile set his seizing heart racing faster than it ever had.

“Not happy to see me?” she teased.

“No! I mean- that’s not it! At all. I’m… _ so _ happy to see you, my lady. You have no idea.” 

The look she was giving him was turning curious, and a little suspicious. Chat gained enough presence of mind to begin scrambling to his feet, but by that point, Ladybug was already lowering herself to sit beside him.

“Something the matter?” she asked. Her mouth was still smiling, but it wasn’t quite as wide, and there was a slight furrow in her brow as though she were suppressing a frown.

“Ah-” Chat halted, unable to look away from the mesmerizing blue of her eyes, so close to his.

They were so deep, with his night vision, even in the dark, he could see the flecks of color speckled throughout the irises.

He wanted to tell her. He wanted to know. But she was so skittish when it came to their identities, he was afraid he would ruin whatever tentative friendship they shared if she thought he was intruding on her trust and her privacy.

But he couldn’t lie, not to his lady.

“Ladybug, I-” His voice caught, but she was hanging on his every word. Chat’s gaze flickered between her eyes, memorizing the way the moon and the city lights seemed to make them glow before he took a breath for courage. “I might… know who you are.”

The eyes he was watching closely grew round and large like saucers.

“_What?!” _

“Maybe! Hypothetically! Accidentally! What other kinds of -ally’s are there?”

“Possibly.”

“Yea,” he agreed with a grimace, “that, too.”

The girl before him sighed, her shoulders slumped as she turned to face the landscape before them. Chat hesitated, then followed suit.

“Just… what do you think you know?” she finally ventured.

There was a mixture of curiosity and dread in her voice, with just a hint of anger and betrayal. He knew he had to do something about it.

“I just… I think I was passing by the alley you detransformed in after the akuma today.”

She was already opening her mouth to exclaim _ something _ in outrage, when he rushed to reassure her.

“I didn’t see anything! I swear! Really! There’s another -ally for you, _ hah _.”

At his lackluster attempt at a joke, she gave him a deadpan expression. Chat chuckled nervously, but encouraged by her turning to face forward again, he continued.

“I only saw a flash of light, and I bolted around the corner. I even closed my eyes and didn’t open them until… until.. I.. _ thought _ you were gone.”

Ladybug’s eyes narrowed beside him, but she didn’t move. He swallowed and took it as a sign to keep going.

“That is to say, when I came out of my hiding place, I _ might _ have seen a girl with black pigtails walking from the general vicinity of the alley into my school.”

Those eyes- those beautiful blue eyes, were suddenly shielded as Ladybug’s lids slid shut. She seemed to inhale a deep, controlled breath before slowly letting it out.

“It was an accident. I never meant to cross your boundaries like that. And who knows? I mean... I could have been wrong.”

He did his best to give her a reassuring laugh, but it fell flat. A moment of awkward silence descended as the two of them glared out at the Paris horizon, wishing something- _ anything _ would suddenly appear and take away all the tension that was weighing on them like a suffocating blanket.

“What’s her name?”

Chat’s head whirled to the side, taken aback with surprise at the assault on the fraught silence between them.

“What?”

She turned as well, meeting his gaze.

“I need to know... what you think you know. So just give me a name- no, wait. Give me less because you said she goes to your school. I don’t want any clues about who you might know outside of all of this.” Then with an open hand she gestured in a circle in Chat’s general direction.

The blond nodded and stared thoughtfully into the empty black distance.

“It…” he trailed off thoughtfully, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he considered what to say. “Her name...” he finally began, very slowly, “...ends in -ette.” 

He was facing forward but cautiously looked at her through the corner of his eye. That was specific enough, right? What would be the chances of two girls who looked similar having similar names and going to the same school? He wasn’t a statistician, but he was pretty sure the probability was incredibly low. To his consternation, Ladybug gaped, jaw slack, eyes wide and panicked. 

“Oh my God,” she breathed. Her hands rose up and began to flap helplessly before her. “This… this is serious. This is… this is _ real, _ holy shit! Chat!”

He watched as she turned to him again, expression some uncomfortable cross between fear and confusion. 

“Hey, bug,” he tried, reaching up to carefully grab her restless arms in an attempt to placate her nerves. “Look at me. Look at me.” He waited until she complied. “It’s going to be ok. We’re going to be ok. It isn’t as bad as you think it is right now.”

And it wasn’t, at least not to him. While one small corner of his heart was disappointed it wasn’t Marinette, the rest of him was incandescently joyous to finally know his lady’s identity.

But she was shaking her head, and there were tears welling up in her eyes. Then she was abruptly, clumsily, rising up to stand, one desperate hand grasping shakily at the yo-yo on her hip. 

“I’m sorry, Chaton. I have to go. We’ll talk later.”

Her yo-yo launched with a sound like a zip line, and before he could say anything, Ladybug was gone.

They only thing he could think about as he sat there, trembling, was the look of tears in his lady’s eyes. 

And how they were so unbelievably blue.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that was (more or less) interesting! I'll work on updating this and my other fics soon.
> 
> If you'd like to see where this story goes, leave me a comment! Kudos make me happy too ^_^
> 
> <3 Muse


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